Case Study

Regionport LLC, a young planning company that plans the development of the town, aiming for the new development of Gotemba city, the foot of Mt. Fuji, installed a video wall system that adopts DynaScan ultra-high brightness LCDs.

Purpose (Facility)

Two years ago, it was decided to refurbish the Gotemba station bus terminal. A new type of tourist information center, designed to guide tourists from overseas, was planned to be established as a category II tourism association certified by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

If it could be opened by March 2020, there could be subsidies from the government including digital signage, and the business was promoted by young local members and private funds, craftsmen, hardware, design, and architecture without major contractors.

The so-called DMO/DMC (Destination Management Organization/Destination Management Company) stipulated by the Japan Tourism Agency. The Japanese version of DMO will collaborate with a variety of stakeholders as a pioneer in the development of a sightseeing area from the perspective of sightseeing management, which draws out the local “earning power” and fosters pride and attachment to the area. In addition, it is a corporation with a strategy to create a tourism area based on a clear concept and a coordination function.

The building is a three-story building with a café, and the observation deck on the third floor that allows visitors to see the impressive Mt. Fuji.

The first floor is a tourist information center, bus ticket office, and café. The video wall system is installed through the window from the second-floor office area, to stream video information to Gotemba station and bus terminal.

About the system

The LCD display is DynaScan 55-inch 3500 nit ultra-high brightness type (Model: DS552LT4-1).  The display was chosen for its ability to compete with direct sunlight, and its excellent color reproduction, and color calibration producing a natural color tone even under sunlight. Each was a decisive factor. It was also evaluated that the ultra-high brightness LCDs were relatively less expensive when comparing to an LED display solution.

Six units of the 55-inch displays are set by 2 horizontal and 3 vertical with DVI daisy-chain connection.  The model is a hot-selling product with thousands of installations worldwide.

For installation through the window, a local metalware manufacturer designed and constructed a full aluminum frame mount capable of withstanding 300 kg load. It has a mechanism that can slide backward for installation and maintenance.

The distribution system and media player uses cloud-based CMS digital signage distribution software, which can flexibly support multiple screens and is easy to use.

Streaming Video Content

The content creators from Gotemba are producing video content and will collaborate with companies such as Odakyu to transmit various information.  The contents will support foreign tourists in English. Information such as an entrance town of Mt. Fuji climbing, for example, the summer event of Mount Fuji Trail Station, can construct and display a system that allows viewers to see the vacant parking lot.

There will be also TSJ (Tourism Shizuoka Japan) video. Gotemba city is also a venue for Olympic road race competitions, so it will be base for those who come to see the competition. In addition, it plans to broadcast popular events in Gotemba city through public viewing. It will also stream the music event live. Gotemba City Tourism Association will be the owner and will connect three major locations, Mt. Fuji, Hakone, and Gotemba.

About Regionport LLC

Mr. Tajika, the representative, has been planning and managing various overseas events, such as the Indonesian marathon event and invitation of Hong Kong companies, but two years ago he established the company to revitalize the region. The company is promoting business that utilizes local talented resources, such as café management, signage printing business, planning and production, big open-air music festivals “ACO CHILL CAMP”*, and sponsoring and operating sporting events.  Promote “Gotemba” in cooperation with companies, local commercial unions, and government. He wishes to change the image of the town.

Local administration became interested in digital signage.  The lack of knowledge in one municipality made it difficult to complete the project locally. However, Regionport LLC proposed usage method and this large multi-screen was realized.

The multi-screen is intended to be a place for transmitting video medium that replaces paper, by young creators there. It has been well received by neighbors that the night was lonely and dark so far, so the signage was on and the mood was brighter, which was good from disaster prevention perspective too.  A high brightness multi-screen is likely to play a role as a new landmark in Gotemba city.

*ACO CHILL CAMP: An open-air music festival held every May in Gotemba (12,000 people).

Various companies include KIRIN Brewery Company co-sponsored.  In the past, famous musicians such as Char, Fumiya Fujii, and Puffy, etc. played.  There are also events for athletes and comedians to participate.